Signal transmitter



June 14, 1932. W 1,863,285

SIGNAL TRANSMITTER Filed Aug. 18. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 14, 1932. SHAW 1,863,285

S IGNAL TRANSMITTER Filed Aug. 18. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 u mum-1| m mum Pat entedf JuneV14, 193Z 3 if puma ml straw, on PORTLAND, AIN

SIGNAL TRANSMITTER ap l eafienfsia 'hu 'ust is, 1928. Serial no, 300,535.

3 'My'invention relates to signal transmitters whichkare; adapted to'sel'ectively trans- V mit warning signals to 'YflI'lO1TS' I9QlI1tS re-[ mote from-a central control station. This 6 device is more particularly useful :fortransnitting fire alarms to various sections of af scattered conimun ity'or of a oit'y,:and when so .usedmay well be l-ocaterl at "a central telephone station. 1 u a a 3 3- The main-obiectaof myinvention is the pro vision of a siinple and reliableapparatus which may be operated'by inexperienced persons,-and may be installed without undue "complication; L

* -Other objects will appearfromthe following description: when taken connection I wi'ththe accompanying drawings. a

In these drawings: o I

Figurelis a side elevationof'oneform of transmitter embodying my invention. 7

Figure '2 is a partial'top view-of the transmitterwith the operatingjcircuits shown connected toaconventionalalamn; r

.Figure 3 is a partial sectional'vi'ew taken on the line III III of Figure 1.

Figure 4 isa fragmentary sectional view of the main operating shaft and associated mechanism. 7 a

a p I Figure 15 isjian elevational view of a circuit. 30 controlling drum which 1s BLSSOClZttGClWlth the main shaft of thetransmitter. v V I .F'gure 6 is a detail view of a portion of the resetting mechanism employed invthe trans- 2 mitter.

flange arranged vto support a transparent, en-.

closing case 3, made up of sections suitably; secured together by-metal-clips 4. The base 1 carries signal transmitting'mechanism supported onabase plate 5 and on'upright ine'tal brackets :6 and 7. The baseplate 5 also carri-es supporting brackets 8 and-9," and an elec- *5 tric motor;j10. "Mounted inginsulatedbearingsinthebrackets 6, 7- and 8, is a shaft 12 carryingia pluralityfof signaling ,discs' 11 of conducting materiah The shaft '12: together withithe discs is driven rnotorll) through Tear-mue ggearing 13. nus gearing is mounted between the bra'ckets 8 and 9 and Y holder. 19 vpivoted about the shaft 18 and c a In the drawings the reference character designates an insulating base provided near its outer'edge with a continuous upstanding leads The strip'31 is carried byan insuis directly connected to the shaft 14 of the motor While the shaft 12 is connected to the shaft S through an insulatedcoupfling C (see Fig.7 4). Shaft 12 also carries a plain con- 0&

ducting disc 4E9, having a cooperating conducting brush 50 secured to] an insulating block 51 on base 1. The function of this disc andbrush isto complete an electricalcircuit over shaft 12 as will 7 appear later on in the or description;

The discs 11 are preferablyof'nietalfland carry series of spaced integral teeth 15 81-- ranged in various combinations according the'signals which are to be transmitted. By reference to f igure 3 it will be seen thatthe disc 11 has a'series of four teeth separated by short intervals, and a second series oftwo teeth widely spaced fromthe first series.

Cooperating with each of the ;discs 11: is a spring contact 16 car'riecl'on a vertical arm 17 The arms 17. are pivoted about a stationary longitudinal shaft 18=1nounted infbrackets 6, 7 and 8. Each .arm 17 is: supported by a 751. biased in, a clockwise direction (as seen in Figure by a coiled spring 20.; These arms also carry electrical contacts 21 for cooperation with adjustable contactsfZQ, secured to 7 an electricallyconductingrod 23 supported in brackets 6, 7 and 8.,Gout-acts 16 and 21 are insulated from arms 17 bystrips of in sulation 17?, butane connected to acoinin-on conducting strip 31 by flexible conducting I lating block 32, and is connected by a conductor 33 to abinding post 34 Arms 17 nor .mally occupy the position shown in Figure 3'in which contacts 2122 are open and-contacts16 are swung tothefright farenough to miss the teeth 15,011 the associated discs 11.

For the purpose of actuating the arms 17 to close contacts'2122' and to bring a contact 16 into, cooperation with its associated disc, a'plura'lity of manually operable keys 24- are arranged 011a panel 25. This panel:

'is'securedto the case 3 and both the panel and the case are'suitably apertured toreceive the keys; Acoiled spring 26 reacting 'between panel 25 and a pin 27in key Q l; we

as V

serves to bias the key to the position shown in Figure 3. By pressing a key inward against spring 26, the arm 17 is swung to the left against spring 20, contact 2122 18 closed and contact 16 placed in a position to engage teeth 15 on disc 11.

As so far described the arms 17 would only be held in contact-closing position as long as the actuating key was held in. In order to insure that a proper sequence of signals 18 transmitted, I provide stops 28 pivotally mounted in sockets cut in the top of a supporting rod 29 and extending between brackets 6 and 8. lVhen an arm 17 is moved 1nward by a key 24 the associated stop 28 drops behind the arm and holds it in contact-closing position until it is released by means to be subsequently described.

Each of the discs 11 gives a distinctive signal and may be brought into operation by actuating one of the keys 24, these keys being marked with suitable designating characters. The size of discs 11 may be so chosen as to repeat a signal several times during one revolution of the shaft 12. It is desirable, however, to have the motor 10 stop after one revolution of shaft 12 and to open the alarm circuit. In order to bring this about I mount a block 35 on rod 29. This block carriers two arms 36 and 37 approximately at right angles to each other and is keyed to rod 29. Shaft 12 carries an insulating dog 38 keyed to its left hand end, as seen in Figure 1. When shaft 12 is rotated the dog 38 is turned in a counter-clockwise direction as seen in Figure 6, and after making nearly a complete revolution strikes arm 36 and rotates rod 29 to lift the stops 28. When dog 38 has made a complete revolution the arm 36 is released and the parts are restored to the position shown in Figure 6. If it is desired to discontinue the operation of the signal at any time after it has been set in motion a reset key R is provided. This key when pressed inward strikes arm 37 and rotates rod 29'to release any one of the contact arms 17 that may have been actuated. so that such arm restored to normal position by its spring 20.

For proper operation of the transmitter it is necessary that the discs 11 always be restored to the same position after operation. For insuring this an insulating drum 39 is fixedly mounted on shaft 12. This drum has upstanding annular flanges 40 and between them carries a conducting strip 41 interrupted by a out-away portion 42. Mounted on the base 1 is an insulating block 43 carrying two brushes 44 and 45 spaced from each other and contacting with conducting strip 41. These brushes are connected in the circuit of motor 10 so that when their ends reach the gap 42 in strip 41 the motor circuit is broken andthe shaft 12 stops with the brushes in thisposition.

aeaeea The electrical circuits of the transmitter are as follows:

V hen a key 24 is pressed, currentfrom battery B flows in the main motor circuit over wire 46 to rod 23, over contact 2221 which is connected to rod 23, lead 30, conducting strip 31, strip 33, wire 47 windings of motor 10 and wire 48 back to battery B. Motor 10 also has a branch circuit controlled by brushes 44 and 45. This circuit is from battery B over wire 46, brush 45, strip 41, brush 44, binding post 34, wire 47, motor 10, and wire 48 back to battery B, and is closed only when shaft 12 has rotated from its normal rest position thereby bringing brushes 44 and 45 into contact with conducting strip 41 on drum 39. Current also flows intermittently through the signaling circuit when a key 24 has been pressed. This circuit is from battery B over wire 46, rod 23, contact 21-22, contact 16, teeth 15, disc 11, shaft 12, disc 49, brush 50, wire 52, signal K and wires 53 and 48 back to battery B. This circuit is closed only when a key 24 is pressed inwardly to cause a con tact 16 to engage teeth 15 of one of the discs 11.

The operation of the mechanism is as follows:

When motor 10 is at rest its circuit is open both at the point where brushes 44 and 45 register with cut out portion 42 of drum 39, and at the discs 11 because arms 17 are all held retracted by springs 20.

Nlien it is desired to transmit a signal, one of the keys 24 is pressed, we will assume that the key illustrated in Fig. 3 is chosen, contact 21--22 is thereby closed and held so by stop 28 to complete the main motor circuit and start the motor. Shaft 12 and disc 11 are set in motion and as soon as the first tooth 15 on disc 11 strikes contact 16, the signaling circuit is closed and the signal K operated. The signaling circuit is again opened when brush 16 rides off from the first tooth 15 so as to interrupt the signaling circuit for an instant. As shown in Figure 3, the mechanism would. therefore, give four short blasts separated by short intervals and after a long interval would give two more short blasts. By adding teeth to the disc the same signal can be repeated several times during a revolution of shaft'12.

As soon as shaft 12 has rotated through nearly a complete revolution, lug 38 strikes arm 36 and rotates shaft 29 to lift stop 28 and releasethe arm 17, open contact 21-22 and move contact 16 thereby opening both the main motor circuit and the signaling circuit. During the beginning of the rotation of drum 39, the branch motor circuit was open at gap 42 in strip 41 but was subsequently closed by strip 41 engaging brushes 44 and 45. This circuit remained closed after the until drum 39 was restored to its initial posiv 'tion and the circuit opened by the brushes reaching the gap d2. It will thus be seen that the discs 11 will always be restored to their proper position after operation of the transmitter. If through error, the wrong .key 24should be pressed,- the signaling and main motor circuits can be broken at any time by means of resetting key'R. Motor will, however, rotate shaft 12 through a com plete revolution if the branch motor circuit has been closed by brushes 44 and 45. When the parts areagain in normal position the proper key may be actuated to give the 15 proper signal. r

It will beclear from the foregoing that I have produced a signal transmitter which is capable of varied uses, and one that can be operated readily by inexperienced persons with "a minimum liability of error.

Although I have herein shown and described but one form of signal transmitter embodying my'invention, it will be obvious that various changes may be made in the dei tails within the scope of the claim without departing from the spirit and scope ,of' my invention. Y I What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

.30 Asignal transmittercomprising' an insulating base, upright brackets on said base, a

. shaft mounted in said brackets and carrying a plurality of toothed discs, a motor for rotating said shaft and discs, a pivoted upright arm associated with each disc, spring contacts on said arms, alongitudinal rod in I parallel relation .to said shaft and carrying contacts for cooperation with the contacts-on said arms, said contacts being mounted in i 0 sockets insaid rod keys for moving said arms into contacteclosing positiomspring means for restoring said keys after actuation of said 4 arms, gravity operated stops, one for each arm, forholding said armsin' contact-closing 45. position, and automatic means for releasing said'arms after a predetermined rotation of said shaft and discs; DANIEL '1. SHAW.

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